DONETSK, October 14. /TASS/. Ukrainian army units have attacked the positions of the forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) near the village of Leninskoye in the south of the republic on Friday afternoon following an artillery barrage, a source in the DPR operational command told the Donetsk News Agency.

"Ukrainian units, in violation of its cessation of hostilities’ obligations, began to attack our positions today at 13:50," the source said. "After the barrage, using 152-mm pieces, the enemy units launched an offensive near the village of Leninskoye supported by mortar fire. The battle continues to rage on."

The DPR command urged the OSCE monitoring mission to take immediate steps to ensure the cessation of hostilities by the Ukrainian armed forces in the southern direction of the contact line.

On October 12, the Ukrainian military tried to break through the DPR defense line near the villages of Leninskoye and Kominternovo in Novoazovsky district. Mercenaries from Poland and Georgia took part in the attack on the Ukrainian side. The attack was rebuffed, with the Ukrainian army losses amounting 15 killed and more than 30 wounded.

Pro-Kiev forces shell Luganskaya village to delay troops’ pullout

The Ukrainian side is intentionally delaying the pullout of military personnel and armaments from the engagement line in the Donbass area, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Envoy Denis Pushilin said on Friday.

"Ukraine continues delaying the process of troops’ pullout and the situation at the engagement line is exacerbating," Pushilin was quoted by the Donetsk News Agency as saying.

"Ukraine continues shelling the republic’s populated areas and provocations go on. That is, they are shelling and then say that they can’t pull out their troops due to this. This is absolutely absurd," Pushilin said.

The Donetsk People’s Republic is ready for the next stage of the pullout of military hardware but this is impossible due to Kiev’s unwillingness to stop the shelling, he added.

The participants in the Contact Group on the political settlement in southeast Ukraine signed a framework agreement at their meeting in Minsk on September 21 on disengaging military personnel and combat hardware in three experimental security zones in the Donbass region.

The document defines the procedure of disengaging forces of the warring sides near the village of Petrovskoye (the Donetsk People’s Republic), the township of Luganskaya and the town of Zolotoye within the area of responsibility of the Lugansk People’s Republic militia.

As of today, the village of Luganskaya remains the last out of the three experimental security zones where the warring sides have not pulled out their forces.

The fifth attempt was disrupted through Kiev’s fault on Thursday to pull out troops in that area.